On 2012-09-04 14:05, hazmania wrote:You might want to check out Hank Snow's Snow in Hawaii on Bear Family CD for authentic hulabilly. Plus the cover sports a caricature of Hank sitting on a Tiki playing a uke... and photos of Hank with leis and wahines inside. I'm not aware of an album that direct hits the theme more than this one.

Hi all! I interrupt this topic with a very important message. As you may or may not know (or may not care) , I moved to Boise Idaho. I know virtually no one here. This evening while I was driving down the street I went by a very busy bar/ outside cafe called Beer 30. I heard someone yell " Hey, ask him about Tiki Oasis!" OK. Who are you?! What Boise person- besides me- went to Tiki Oasis? I would love to find a kindred spirit out here. Let me know.

BigTikiDude tipped me to this article in The Wall Street Journal
September 28, 2012

Why Men Bond with the 007 Theme
The manly 'James Bond Theme' hits a psychological note; feelings of invincibility, memories of Dad
By MARC MYERS

Maybe it's the stealthy bass line. Or the machine-gun guitar solo. Or the swaggering wail of the horns. Or maybe it's all three shaken together. The "James Bond Theme" still has a way of making guys feel, well, more guy-ly. Marc Myers explains why on Lunch Break. Photo: Getty Images.

Maybe it's the stealthy bass line. Or the machine-gun guitar solo. Or the swaggering wail of the horns. Or maybe it's all three shaken together. Whatever the reasons (and there are many), the "James Bond Theme" still has a way of making guys feel, well, more guy-ly.

Fifty years after appearing in "Dr. No"â€”the first James Bond film, which had its premiere in London on Oct. 5, 1962â€”the jaunty theme is back with a vengeance. At the Olympics' opening ceremony, the theme played as Britain's "queen" parachuted from a helicopter. On Oct. 5, Vic Flick, the theme's original guitarist, will perform his signature solo during "The Music of James Bond: The First 50 Years" at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. And it will be laced throughout the latest Bond film, "Skyfall," opening on Nov. 9.

For millions of baby-boomer males who saw their first car chase and sex scene in a Bond film in the '60s, the theme song stirs powerful psychological coals, flipping a primal switch as images of silencers, casinos, bikinis, gin and gadgets flood the male brain.

"With male identity, there's a biological aspect to how we see ourselves, and for many men, the song releases feelings of invincibility and attractiveness," said Eugene Beresin, professor of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School. "Men link the theme to strength, adulthood and virility. It's like the smell of a childhood baseball glove or a father's aftershave."

But what exactly happens to trigger the flashback? "Music travels to the auditory nerve, where it's evaluated by the cerebral networks that process our emotionsâ€”before we even identify what we're hearing," Dr. Beresin said. "In a split second, our brain scans its files for a match. If the music unlocks memories, you are likely to reexperience the same emotions you felt when you first heard it."

The Bond theme also has a paternal tie-in. Before the current movie-rating system was instituted in 1968, most theaters prohibited teens from seeing movies with a mature theme unless accompanied by an adult. "Which means most boys saw the film with their dads, who took them as a rite of passage," said Louann Brizendine, professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and author of "The Male Brain." "The experience only strengthened the link between the song and coming of age."

The idea for a Bond theme began in late 1961, when "Dr. No" co-producer Albert Broccoli asked songwriter Monty Norman to compose music for the film, according to "The Music of James Bond" by Jon Burlingame. In early 1962, Mr. Norman traveled to the movie set in Jamaica, where he wrote the film's Caribbean-flavored songs before returning to London that spring.

[An aside in the original article with YouTube links:
The Search for Bond Themes:
Monty Norman, "Bad Sign, Good Sign"
John Barry, "Bees Knees" (1959)
The John Barry 7 "Beat Girl" (1959)
The James Bond Theme]

But time was running out for the theme. According to Mr. Norman's website, he reached into his bottom drawer for a song he had already written for an aborted musical called "A House For Mr. Biswas," based on the novel by V.S. Naipaul. It worked: The "Dr. No" producers liked the catchy melody on his "Bad Sign, Good Sign."

Next, Mr. Broccoli and co-producer Harry Saltzman turned to John Barry, a film composer who had seen some success with his John Barry Seven rock band. Mr. Barry added orchestration to Mr. Norman's melody lineâ€”but he felt his score still needed a dominant "voice" to symbolize Bond's masculinity.

"John called me over to his apartment in June 1962," recalled Mr. Flick, who was the John Barry Seven's lead guitarist. "He showed me Monty Norman's music and asked how we could give it more power." Mr. Flick pecked out Mr. Norman's melody on his guitar, Morse-code style, and suggested dropping the key to E-minor from A-minor for a stronger statement. And the theme as we know it was born.

In the end, Mr. Norman retained the theme's sole composer credit. When Mr. Barry hinted that he deserved partial credit in a British magazine in 1997 and London's Sunday Times followed up with a nasty jab at Mr. Norman, the theme's composer sued the paper, and the jury decided in his favor.

Legal shark-tanks aside, why do men find the deep guitar notes and swinging horns so intriguing? "There's a feeling of action and rhythmic rocking that releases a burst of dopamineâ€”telling men they have the world by the tail," said Dr. Brizendine.

And women? "They're reminded," she said, "of an era of handsome, dashing men who they hoped would sweep them off their feet."

â€”Mr. Myers is the author of "Why Jazz Happened" (University of California Press), to be published in December.

"Why Men Bond with the 007 Theme...
The manly 'James Bond Theme' hits a psychological note; feelings of invincibility, memories of Dad"

So... in anticipation of next year's Hulabilly theme let me share my childhood story of James Bond vs. Johnny Cash. In the early 1970's our home only had one television set and so the family always had to compromise on what to watch in the evenings. One particular night, I was really looking forward to one of the Sean Connery Bond films. To my dismay, my father preempted my selection with his choice of a Johnny Cash TV special. When I protested, commenting that country music was lame and that Bond was cooler, my father responded "Listen I grew up 'Grapes of Wrath' poor, fought in WWII and Korea, and you don't know shit !!".

Yes, the Bond theme is cool but when compared to songs like "Folsom Prison Blues", "I Walk the Line", and "Man in Black", James Bond is a metrosexual poof.

JOHN-O's dad is officially a helluva guy. More parents should be like that these days, instead of letting their children (or in the case of some of my friends, dogs) dictate their lives.

But I digress...

So, one of the room parties had a rum punch. It was delicious. It was a room that faced the stage. It didn't have a lot of decorations, but there was a lovely fellow who greeted you out the door, and poured out of a large round cooler, a delicious rum punch that is the official recipe from either Appleton Estates or another rum distiller, that they serve at their welcome center.

Can anyone tell me who the rum distiller was, or share the recipe? Been dying to make it since I got back, and my memory isn't as good as it used to be.

On 2012-09-30 22:31, Otto wrote:BigTikiDude tipped me to this article in The Wall Street Journal
September 28, 2012

Why Men Bond with the 007 Theme
The manly 'James Bond Theme' hits a psychological note; feelings of invincibility, memories of Dad

Legal shark-tanks aside, why do men find the deep guitar notes and swinging horns so intriguing? "There's a feeling of action and rhythmic rocking that releases a burst of dopamine”telling men they have the world by the tail," said Dr. Brizendine.

And women? "They're reminded," she said, "of an era of handsome, dashing men who they hoped would sweep them off their feet."

Well...I agree with the dashing men, but I was ALWAYS drawn to the awesome music also...the Bond theme still invokes a special thrill in my heart.